Self Righteous Sacrifice
by minimerc
Summary: Chapter 5 AU NaruHina. There is a 90 probability she will not be able to use her Byakugan, let alone see again.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and/or its characters.

Self Righteous Sacrifice

One Uzumaki Naruto was making his way to Konoha's hospital. Normally, he'd have to be dragged there for even just the simplest checkups, but today was different. He was here to see if one of his special people was okay.

As he made his way down the white halls, chanting the room number of a certain white-eyed girl over and over again, he stopped. He heard a door close and some voices around the corner. What made him stop was the fact that the two speaking were Hinata's father and the Godaime Hokage herself.

Tsunade walked out of the hospital room in which Hyuuga Hinata resided. "She's going to be okay, but there is one problem"

"Go on" He heard Hinata's father say.

The Hokage took a deep breath and exhaled in all out before she spoke. "There is a 90 probability she will not be able to use her Byakugan, let alone see again."

"Don't joke with me, Hokage-sama" Hiashi said coldly. Naruto could feel the man's glare intensify.

"No one's joking, Hiashi-san." Tsunade shot back at him, coldly. Try to intimidate the Hokage, will you? "The nerves in her eyes have been severely damaged. Be thankful that her eyesight may be all that she lost. If that attack had been a bit stronger, she could have died."

"She knows that she is supposed to protect her eyes with her life."

"Look Hiashi-san, I understand your clan is important to you, but as I recall it, Hinata took that blow for you. If the Byakugan is so important for an heir to have, give her yours. She's protected your eyes well enough."

The Hyuuga Head glared at the Hokage once more before walking off in the opposite direction of Naruto. Tsunade placed her hand over her eyes and sighed. She turned and was shocked to see Naruto approach her.

"Obaasan, can I see Hinata now?"

So here he was, in Hinata's hospital room, watching her sleep. He had been there for what seemed like hours. She lay there, surrounded by white walls and sheets. Her breathing is slight, due to her being unconscious. He watched her chest rise and fall at a slow pace. That was the only real confirmation he had that she was still alive.

He looked out of the window. He knew he had to leave soon. Kakashi would be reaching the training grounds soon. He sighed and got up from his stool. His eyes returned to her face. Her eyes were bandaged heavily, some blood soaked through the many layers already. But no matter how banged up she was, she still looked very pretty. That was one of the reasons why she was a person he liked, but he knew there was more.

Like how she protected the man that made her life a living hell because, no matter how horrible he was to her, he was still her father.

Or how she would easily give in to buying him ramen every once in a while.

Well… there were many reasons he liked her better than anyone else, but putting them into words and actually telling her was always a problem. He never really had this problem with Sakura. Then again, he never really liked Sakura like this.

Sighing, he looked around the room, blushing guiltily. She'd never know it was him. On that thought, he brushed his lips against her forehead, before he rushed out of the room to start training again with a little bounce in his step.

In his rush to leave, he missed the small smile and glowing blush that appeared on the raven-haired girl's face. She may not have been able to see him, but, as she became quickly aware, there's more than one way to sense a person. Who else smells like ramen, fresh rain, and earth?

* * *

Can't hate me this time! She has a 10 chance of getting her eyesight back P 

Yeah, another Hinata got hurt fic… but I already wrote one about Naruto in the hospital, so it was only fair I wrote one about Hinata being hurt. Stick it in anywhere you want to… cause I'm too lazy to think of a time period.

Oh yeah, this is a contest fic.

minimerc


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and/or its characters.

Self Righteous Sacrifice: Chapter 2

They all said she wouldn't make it. She was a failure. She was too weak. It was impossible.

And then she had to go and prove them wrong.

And she did it with _him_ by her side every step of the way. Well, almost every step. Naruto did have his own duties as a shinobi of Konoha.

Before, she would have never been able to recover, but that was then and this is now.

"No Hyuuga needs a blind heiress." Hiashi said, his back to his bandaged daughter.

Her father thought her a failure still. Fine then. She would prove she wasn't. She would get through this. She would see again.

"Wow Hinata, you've beat all expectations." Tsunade told the raven-haired girl with a small smile. She never really liked Hiashi and his way of treating people. "If you continue at this rate, you'll be able to seen again in a few weeks."

The young girl blushed as her covered eyes 'looked' down at her hands, "Thank you, Hokage-sama."

"Maa maa, Hinata, I told you to call me Tsunade. Hokage-sama makes me sound like an old man."

"Hai, Tsunade-sama."

She sighed and then smiled again. "I guess that's close enough." She placed Hinata's patient file back in the tray at the end of her bed before looking at the door. Someone was standing there, waiting to let in. "Well if looks like you have company. I'll be back later to replace your bandages."

As she exited the room, the Godaime opened the door for the person to enter. Her eyes softened when she saw the person. She smiled at Hinata's guest and left.

The person closed the door after the Hokage left the room. "Oi, Hinata?"

"Na-Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked, a bit surprised. She hadn't expected Naruto to come see her today. He was supposed to be on a mission right now.

"I brought you some ramen." He chirped, holding up a take-out bag from Ichiraku's even though the girl could not see it. He looked over at her with his trademark squinted eyes, wrinkling his nose, "Hospital food sucks. We want you to get better, not die from food poisoning."

"B-but Naruto-kun, aren't you supposed to be on a mission right now?"

"Ah, our team finished early so I dropped by to share lunch with you." He said, smiling at her as he pulled her lunch tray table over her bed.

"Isn't it past noon, Naruto-kun?"

"Yeah, so? Lunch can be anytime, just as long as it's between breakfast and dinner." He nodded his head in agreement with his own statement as he placed the two large bowls of ramen on the tray in front of the girl.

The aroma of wet noodles and broth hit her nose, she began to realize that she was hungry for real food. Her stomach realized it too as it let out a growl, causing the poor girl to blush almost through her bandages.

But Naruto chuckled. "See. Hospital food's no good for you. So eat up, okay Hinata!"

As her blush abated away, Hinata smiled warmly in the boy's direction. "Thank you, Naruto-kun."

"Anytime, Hinata." The foxy shinobi said as he handed her a pair of chopsticks from the bag.

"Ano… Naruto-kun"

"Hmm?"

"I-I don't know where the ramen is… could you please help me find it?"

Well Naruto felt like a real genius. Of course she couldn't see where the ramen was. She was temporarily blind at the moment!

"Ah! Sorry Hinata. I forgot…" he scratched his head out of embarrassment for his blunder. He placed the bowl in front of her and took one of her hands and placed it around the Styrofoam bowl.

She thanked him as she began to open the covered bowl. "Itadakimasu" she said softly as she broke her chopsticks and tried to grab a few noodles. Her quest was futile. And her stomach was hungry.

"Ya know, if you want, I can help you with that?"

Hinata's chopsticks went plunk into the hot broth in her bowl as she almost fainted. "P-please don't trouble yourself, Na-Naruto-kun. Y-you don't need to do that… I think I can ma-manage." She said, smiling towards him nervously as she tried and tried again, and failed. Her stomach moaned again in protest of her stubbornness. It just wanted some food.

"Here, let me. Now open wide." Naruto said. Before she could respond, she found a chopstick full of noodles in her mouth. If the ramen was hot, it didn't compare to the blush that radiated off of the Hyuuga heiress at that moment. She couldn't find her voice to tell Naruto that he didn't have to do this… heck, she didn't want to.

He watched her slowly chew her food, her whole face crimson. He found it adorable and chuckled inwardly as he watched her gulp down her food. "Ready for some more?"

She nodded, shyly and he picked up some more noodles, blew on them, and placed them in her awaiting, open mouth.

_Indirect kisses. I could live with that for now_, he thought as a small blush of his own found its way on his face as he got another batch of noodles ready.

* * *

Hey thanks for the reviews Dragon Man 180, Hina-hime, chibified kitsunes, lunarangel, KyLewin, TopQuark, kitsune-itai, a3eedi, Cyberwing, Chibi Tetra, noname, and sephynarutocloud. 

I was just going to leave the story as it was, but… a lot of you wanted an update. It's not going to be a long story… Still got to work on You Don't Know My Name (my baby that I am neglecting right now… T-T Gomen YDKMN-chan :huggles: Please feel better. I'm working on your future chapters right now, I promise!)…

Anyways the contest was to write a one shot about an AU hospital scene involving NaruHina. One of them had to be hurt either physically or mentally. And I didn't win, (Hina-hime did so check out her story!) but it's all good. It was all in the spirit of getting more NaruHina fics up on But I can't promise this fic will be long. Sorry. Bai bai.

minimerc


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and/or its characters.

Self Righteous Sacrifice: Chapter 3

Sound and Mist ninjas appeared at Hinata's birthday party. It was a big event so, naturally, everyone who was anyone was at the party, even if they didn't like or know the girl. It was a mistake to crash a Hyuuga party.

The battle was intense as the Sound and Mist fought the ninjas of Konoha. No one knew of their real intention until it was almost too late. They surrounded Hiashi and planned to remove his eyes right there, but Hinata was not going to let that happen. She came to his aid, incapacitating as many enemy nins she could.

She showed everyone why she was the Heir of Hyuuga.

_But during this all, Hiashi was still in danger. In the words of his attackers, "Screw this. Kill him! We'll take the Byakugan from his corpse later."_

_She stepped in their way, taking her Jyuuken stance she had been taught since she could walk. The enemy was already in action, they couldn't stopped their attack, even if they wanted to. She blocked the first two with ease, forcing chakra into their bodies. But she soon found it difficult with three more attacks still coming at her, but she stood her ground. If she didn't, they would hit her father._

_She ignored his shouting for her to get out of the way. The last 3 came almost simultaneously. She blocked two, striking both of the ninjas in front of her in their chests but then was hit squarely in the forehead by the last one. Chakra surrounded his fist as he followed through with his attack, knocking Hinata a few yards away._

_Her kimono did not hold the same beauty it did when she first came out in it. It was covered in mud and blood, torn all over. She looked a wreck. But she could see any of it._

_She felt the blood trickle down her face, a large gash on her forehead from the attack. She felt the nerves in her eyes burn from the fiery chakra her enemy her enemy somehow forced in her body. She heard feet running towards her and her father calling out to her, but she couldn't respond. The pain was too unbearable._

_She heard another voice call out to her. '_Naruto-k…kun…_' she thought before falling unconscious._

She sighed. It has been two weeks since then and she was still blind. Make no mistake, if Hinata were able to go back in time, she would have saved her father all over again, but being stuck in the hospital for two weeks sucked. Add to that that she couldn't see and you had one bored heir of Hyuuga.

Until Naruto showed up, that is.

Today her father had visited her again. He was in the same mood as he always was: an 'I've-got-a-tree-stuck-up-my-ass-cause-I'm-so-strong-and-powerful-and-you-should-be-too-but-you're-not' mood. She was happy that he visited though, even if she did have to sit through his lecture about protecting her Byakugan at any means necessary.

The last time her father visited her in a hospital before this incident was when she was 5 after she over exerted her chakra during a session with him. Her mother died soon after and then he never went to see her when she was hospitalized again.

That was how she knew he cared about her, even if he didn't outright admit it. He continued to change bit by bit since he reconciled with Neji.

As her father was leaving, he bumped into Naruto. Naruto glared at him as Hiashi stared back at him, patriotically. Hiashi then broke the glaring contest as he excused himself and exited the room.

Naruto fumed after him. "Hinata, does your dad always have a stick up his ass?"

Hinata jumped a bit before turning her head towards his direction. She hadn't noticed Naruto come in. Maybe that was why it took her father so long to close the door. She registered what he just said and shook her head slightly. "Naruto-kun, Otousan… he means well."

"Hinata, how can destroying his own daughter's self esteem mean well?" he asked as he made his way other to the chair by her bedside Hiashi sat in moments ago.

"He does what he feels is best for the clan. But sometimes he forgets that I am not just apart of our clan, that I'm his daughter." She told him softly.

"Hinata…"

She continued. "He wasn't always like this… He was kind and at one point I felt loved and cared for, but then I was deemed a weakling and we fell apart."

"That doesn't justi-" Hinata cut him off.

"I took everything important from him away, Naruto-kun." She told him, guiltily as she bowed her head. "His brother and his first wife. They were both killed because of me."  
His eyes and voice softened a bit. "It's not your fault though, Hinata."

"But it is." She argued quietly, "If I was stronger, I could have protected myself. If I weren't so weak mentally and physically, I would have awakened before the Cloud tried to kidnap me. I could have stopped my father from killing that man. I could have done a lot of things…"

"But you were only three!"

"It doesn't matter what age I was. Even an average child would wake up, but all I did was sleep, causing many people's happiness to be destroyed. Because of me, people lost fathers and my father lost his brother. Had my uncle not stepped up to take his place, I would have lost my father…"

"See what them over at the Hyuuga manor got you saying! I say you just screw what they say. They aren't important. You don't need their recognition. I don't understand why you'd want it anyways. All of them are just a bunch of bastards with sticks up their asses… except for you and Neji anyway. You shouldn't have gotten in the way. Look, he doesn't even care that you can't see! All he cares about is your Byakugan."

"Otousan may not seem to care about me, but he does. He is harsh with me… due to frustration at my mediocre skills. My clan feels that my kindness gets in the way of my duties as a kunoichi."

"Some people take kindness as a weakness. But, it's not. Hinata, kindness is your strength. In this day and age, we need more people like you. Don't let people tell you otherwise. And if they do, I'll kick their ass for ya!"

She smiled softly towards him. "Thank you, Naruto-kun…"

"No problem!" he said, grinning foxily at her before his expression became solemn again. "Just one thing Hinata… why did you save Hiashi?"

She knew someone was going to ask that question. Any sane person would, seeing as how he treated her. But the answer was easy for her. "Because… before I went unconscious, I heard him." A small smile crossed her features, "He transformed back into the man that used to train me and carry me when I was too tired to walk. The Otousan that I grew up loving, not the shell of a man he became after Okaasan passed away." She sighed and turned her head away from Naruto, "I can't blame him for his actions towards me and I will love him always. He is my father after all." She turned back to him with a small smile on her face,

"That is why I saved him… and that is why I would do anything to gain his acknowledgement and acceptance."

Silence reigned over the two. Then it clicked to Hinata. Naruto didn't have any parents and all she was doing was ranting on and on about her father and stuff.

"Oh… Gomen nasai, Naruto-kun… I didn't mean to go on like that…" she said as she bowed her head in shame. How could she be so stupid and cruel to do that?

"It's okay." She heard him chirp before it returned to his serious voice. "I understand where you're coming from. If I were in your shoes… I'd probably do the same thing." He confided in her. "Mou… I didn't come here to make both of us depressed! What do ya say about both of us sneaking outta here and getting some ramen?"

"No one's sneaking out of here, baka." They both heard come from the doorway.

Naruto turned around quickly, calling out a surprised, "Tsunade-baba!" She whacked him hard on the back of his head. "ITAI!"

"That's what you get. Stop calling me that already!" she growled, veins popping out of her head.

"Then stop being an old lady!" Naruto shouted back, sticking his tongue out at her.

Hinata didn't have to see to sense the tension that was building up in the room. She could feel Tsunade's deadly aura rising as she heard Naruto continue to taunt her.

"A-ano… Tsu-Tsunade-sama?" she stuttered, slightly scared of her Hokage.

The young looking woman stopped holding the foxy shinobi up by his collar and looked over at her patient. Her demeanor changed completely as she let Naruto fall to the ground with a yelp. "Oh right. Hinata, I've come to change your bandages again and check the nerves near your eyes."

The Hokage unraveled and peeled the gauze that covered Hinata's eyes off. There were large burn marks around her eyes. Tsunade did a few seals to channel her chakra the right way and placed her hands over the burn marks, her eyes closed and brow creased in concentration. "Hmm… it seems that they are healing well. In a little while, they will be strong enough for me to heal them with my jutsu. So bear with us a little while longer."

"Hai. Thank you, Tsunade-sama." Hinata said, bowing slightly.

"Don't worry about it." The blonde woman responded, waving off the girl's gratitude.

"Wow! That's great Hinata!" Naruto exclaimed, smiling at her as Tsunade replaced the bandaged around the girl's eyes. As the Hokage stepped back to examine her handy work, Naruto walked over to the other side of the girl and whispered in her ear, "When you get out, I'll treat you to some ramen at Ichiraku's, kay? So heal quickly, ne."

If Hinata could blink, she would have. Naruto was going to treat her to ramen? Out in public? Like on a date? She broke out into a large blush and covered her cheeks with her small hands.

Tsunade chuckled softly, but left it at that. She'd store this moment away for later use if necessary. "Well Hinata, I'll be back to check up on you later. And you," she turned towards Naruto, patting him on the head, "don't torture Hinata too much. Bye." With that she left them alone, closing the door behind her.

Once again, they were left alone with each other.

* * *

Well… there's chapter 3. Meant to have it out Friday, but I fell asleep as soon as I got home that night and didn't wake up til 7 the next morning. Stupid AP test. I hope you liked it… / I went dialogue crazy… But I really do believe that Hinata still loves her daddy. Otherwise, why would she try so hard to gain his acceptance? Blah blah blah. But there wasn't a lot of fluff and stuff… there wasn't a lot of anything really… just talk… meh. I guess I was just in the mood to talk.

Thanks all that reviewed! (Rakumaru ( :glomp: Yay! I loved your new chapter!), Xoni Newcomer, HayabusaJiraiyaRulez, DarkPaladinKnight, karatefumaster, AkiaBinZaid, Airheaded dude, Chibi Tetra, anonymous-mantis, Jays Arravan, Kortir, lunarangel, Kitsune-Itai, KyLewin, Nonengel, warprince2000, TopQuark, Aloi-chan, chibified kitsunes, and Dragon Man 180) You guys made my day… really:smile: Expect 1) a new chapter soon and 2) for those that read YDKMN, a new chapter as well. Love ya! Night night.

minimerc


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and/or its characters… so there

Self Righteous Sacrifice: Chapter 4

Today was the day. Today the bandages would come off.

After almost a full month in Konoha's best hospital being blind, Hinata would finally be able to see again. She beat all of the odds. In your face Hyuuga clan!

She was so anxious. Now, it wasn't uncommon for Hyuuga Hinata to be anxious, but this was a different type of anxiousness. Instead of it being an apprehensive type of anxiety, it was an eager one.

She couldn't wait to get those bandages off and go have some ramen with her Naruto-kun…

Well, he wasn't hers yet, but she would work on that later. Baby steps remember… baby steps.

It had been almost two weeks since Naruto made that promise to her. Oh, she hoped he would remember! She didn't want to sound too desperate and knew if he didn't remember, she wouldn't remind him. Especially after what Tsunade said the last time she did

"What are you two, a married couple?"

She almost felt herself faint at that moment. Her and Naruto… married? A small, dreamy smiled managed to creep onto her face every time she thought about it now.

Everyone had come in to wish her good luck earlier in the day before they went on with their business. Her heart jumped for joy when she heard Naruto wanted to stay with her until the operation and be the first one she would see when she got her bandages off. However… Naruto's cell had a training mission that day so he couldn't stay (since he was the one that really needed the training if he wanted to defeat Sasuke's brother and the rest of Akatsuki). He promised he would treat her to some ramen later on that day….

Oh how she couldn't wait!

Okay back to the bandage removing… Tsunade would walk through that door, start up some small conversation, beginning to remove her bandages, and then start the 'operation'.

Once the door opened, her body tensed. The anxiety was killing her.

The shoes of the person tapped against the floor. But that sound was not of Tsunade's heels…

"Who's there?" she asked cautiously. If she were to be attacked now, it would be very difficult for her to defend herself.

She concentrated on her hearing. By the sound of the footsteps, she could tell that they were too small to be her father, but too big to be her younger sister… Maybe it was Neji-niisan! Whoever it was stopped a foot away from her bed.

"It's me, Hinata-san."

If she could, her eyes would have widened out of surprise. He was the person she least expected to show up right now…

"Le-Lee-san… It's nice of you to have dropped by." She told him while sending a small smile his way. "It's been a while since I've seen- um... I mean heard from you."

Now that she thought about it, Lee was the only one from the "Rookie Nine + Gai's team" group that hadn't come to visit her during her hospitalization. Whenever Neji, Tenten, and Gai-sensei came, Lee was never with them. She had thought it strange at the times they visited, but she would forget later on. Whenever she asked about him, no one knew where he was.

"You aren't mad?"

"Mad, Lee-san? Why would I be mad?"

"Because I haven't come to visit you before now…"

"I understand that you have been busy, Lee-san. Everyone has been busy as of late."

The teen with the bowl shaped haircut looked down in shame. "I wish that was the case, Hinata-san… demo…I'm sorry Hinata-san… I could not bear to see you as you were. I had lost faith in you and your strength. It brought back demons of my past… and I knew how much it hurt when Tsunade-sama told me I would never be able to prove myself as a shinobi with my taijutsu… that I should just give up on it and do something else. I was a broken youth. When they said that you might never be able to see again, all of those memories came back to me. You want to prove yourself as a Hyuuga, but you can't without the Byakugan… It scared me. "

She understood. When she was hospitalized after her match with Neji she had heard about what had happened to Lee. She had overheard nurses and doctors discussing his condition in the hall: about how he would never have been able to be a shinobi again. She hadn't known until much later that that was his dream or that without that dream, he was only a shell of himself.

"It was like it was happening to me again… I was cowardly… and underestimated you. You have beaten everyone's expectations and will be able to see soon. I just hope you do not think too badly of the fool that I am. I am sorry, Hinata-san and ashamed of myself. I know it is stupid of me to ask for your forgiveness, but I had to come to say that."

"Lee-san… don't beat yourself up about this. I understand why you would think those things. I am not the strongest shinobi out there… in fact, I may be one of the weakest-"

"Hinata-san, everyone has a different definition of weak. By my definition, you have never been weak. Weak people do not take on the beatings and burdens of everyone else around them."

"Those are nice words, Lee-san…. Thank you. But please, don't feel so bad… I didn't think I would be able to see again either without Naru-" she stopped abruptly once she realized what she was about to say, covering her mouth with her tiny hands as a small blush covered her cheeks.

The Blue Beast chuckled. "Naruto-kun has that affect on people."

She removed her hands from her face and smiled as some of her blush still remained. "Yes, he does."

It was nice to talk to Lee like this.

She was no longer antsy about when Tsunade was going to get there. She would come when she came.

Normally, there was little contact between Hinata and Lee. He was Neji's teammate after all. But she knew he was a kind person. He had helped her out a few times when she was in need and she tried to repay him after each time. She had no idea that they had a lot in common.

"Hinata-san, even though we have not been close, since our first Chuunin Exam, I have had great respect for you. When I saw how you protected your father at the party, you gained more of my respect. You have proven to me that hard work pays off in the end, even when I doubted it once again." He lowered himself into a low bow. "I would be honored if you, a fellow genius of hard work, would spar with me once you've gotten well enough to fight." He said as he straightened up and began to walk towards the door.

That almost left her speechless. Someone had great respect for her? She didn't' know what to do… so she asked herself what would Naruto do in this situation.

"Lee-kun…"

The new address made him turn to look at her and he broke out into a true grin of springtime youth at the sight he saw.

There, in her hospital bed and her eyes bandaged, Hinata struck the nice guy pose, her cheeks burning with an embarrassed blush and her grin a little shaky, but a nice guy pose nonetheless. "I-I will be the best sparring partner I can be for you… That's a promise of a lifetime…"

He struck his pose, shiny teeth and all back at her. She may not have been able to see it, but she knew he had done so. "I will promise the same thing to you then too, Hinata! And if I can't do it, I'll do a 1000 crunches and do a 100 laps around Konoha on my hands." Whatever guilt he felt had melted away by now as the heiress' giggles filled the room.

Naruto was not the only one that could make others fears and guilt dissipate.

"I have to leave you now, Hinata, but I wish you the best of luck. I'll be wait for our first match!" And with that, Lee was gone, closing her door behind him.

A few moments later, her door opened again, but this time the familiar clicks of Tsunade's high heels came through the door.

"I see you are up." The Hokage tried to lighten the mood. "So Hinata, are you ready?"

"Hai." Whatever doubt Tsunade had in the girl's resolve was gone. After all, if the person undergoing this procedure were not ready, then they would not be able to withstand the pain of it.

"Now Hinata, this will be a slow and painful process. It will seem like I am stitching your veins and nerves back together, which I will be, but with chakra. Once my chakra stitches them together and I hold them in place, Shizune will heal them completely. I'm sorry. We can't put you to sleep or give you drugs. We don't know how the drugs would affect you or your injuries."

"I'm fine as I am…" she assured them softly.

"After this, you will be able to see, but not as well as you used to for a while. During that time, you will be on inactive duty for 2 weeks or more depending on how fast you recover your normal eyesight. You will have to come back to the hospital every day and are not allowed to use your Byakugan until I give you the okay. If you do, you may do more damage to your eyes. Is that understood?" Tsunade spoke in a tone that left no argument. She knew what was best and if you disagreed, you may find yourself with a few lumps on your head… or worse.

"Hai."

The blonde haired woman turned to her older apprentice, "Then let's get this show on the road."

The operation took about two hours. Tsunade made the process sound easy, but it wasn't. Stiching wounds with chakra was one thing, but it requires more concentration when it deals with nerves. Too much chakra and the veins and nerves will explode. Too little and the will not stay together enough for Shizune to heal them. The chakra 'needles' that stitched together the nerves were small and many. Hinata felt everyone pierce her veins, in and out, in the rhythmic motion. When they reached a tender spot, she would suck in a sudden breath, but not scream or cry.

After all, she had to be strong. If she wasn't, she might as well blind for the rest of her life. Besides… she knew she had the support of her friends and Naruto-kun behind her. She would not show weakness… not this time.

After what seemed like forever, a cooling presence came over Hinata's eyes. She figured that Shizune was healing them now. The feeling was a relief to her. She could feel her 'mended' veins and nerves creating a stronger bond between each other as Tsunade's apprentice passed her soothing hands over the areas. Then, all of a sudden, it was over.

"Okay Hinata-chan… when Tsunade-sama tell you to, slowly open you eyes." She heard Shizune tell her. She nodded.

The current Hokage examined their work thoroughly before telling the girl she could open her eyes.

With some effort, Hinata cracked both of her eyes open only to want to close them again. The brightness of the room after a month of darkness not only hurt her eyes, it gave her a migraine. However, she allowed her eyes to get used to the light in the room and slowly opened them until they were wide open.

Her eyes still weren't focusing on anything. The room was a big, white blur with colors and other blurred outlines of people. She blinked a few times before the room became somewhat clear. There still was a little fog and haziness in her sight, but she could deal with that now.

"Success?"

"Hai." She looked over the pair beside her. "Thank you, Tsunade-sama, Shizune-san."

They both smiled back at her until they heard a knock at the door.

"Shizune, on your way out would you let that person in?"

"Alright. You should get back to work soon, too, Tsunade-sama. There're a lot of piles of paperwork that you need to take care on." With that, the dark haired apprentice opened the door and left. The opened door revealed three white-eyed people. Instantly the young girl among them flung herself at Hinata.

"Oneesan! You're okay! The clan leaders would not let me come to see you at all during your stay here. They kept saying horrible things about not wasting time on lost causes. They kept saying that you were no longer a Hyuuga."

Hinata's eyes traveled from her little sister, who was currently hugging the life out of her, to her father, who had just finished greeting their Hokage. The look on his face was a displeased one. Maybe he would have been happier if Hanabi had not disclosed that information to her or if Hinata could not see the expression on his face. She turned her attention back to her sister as she felt tears begin to well up behind her eyes… So that was how it was. He really didn't care about her after all. But she should have known that after all of these years…

"They tried to start training me to be the heir, but I refused. I knew you would get better! I just knew it." Hanabi said, squeezing her sister even more. "Neji-niisan told them off, but then they punished him, but Otousan put his foot down too. He said that you were still the rightful heir and would come back as such."

"You did that… for me?" she asked her sister, unsure of what she had just heard. The young girl nodded. Hinata hugged her tightly.

She looked over at Neji, who was smiling softly at her. She noticed now the weary marks left under his eyes and how his forehead protector was tied more loosely than normal.

"Neji-niisan… they…?" her voice died off. He knew what she was asking though and nodded his head.

They had used the seal on him.

She covered her mouth with one of her hands and looked away. He got hurt because of protecting her.

Her eyes refused to look back at the other man that stood near the doorway. "O-otousan… you really said that?" she asked as she looked down at the top of her sister's head.

"Hai." He stated in his normal, formal voice.

Her eyes widen completely. Whatever tears she had, they had begun to fall. She looked over at the two men that still stood near the door. But this time, they weren't tears of sadness… they were tears of joy. For moments, she couldn't speak as she tried to wipe away her never-ending tears, but after a little while she managed a small, heartfelt "Thank you…"

The room was quiet for a while. Tsunade looked back and forth between the Hyuugas and smiled. So it took Hinata almost to die before they could become a 'real' family, but hey, it finally happened. And she couldn't have been happier for the girl. However she needed to talk with Hinata about a few things.

"Could I have a moment alone with Hinata? I need to give her some instructions." Tsunade 'requested.'

Even if they wanted to question what these instruction could be, they did not bother asking. She was the Hokage-sama after all. Hanabi reluctantly pried herself off of her older sister and stood next to her father and cousin.

"We will be down at the receptionist desk, waiting." Hiashi stated. They left the room as she requested.

"I wish you the best, Hinata. And take it easy! Don't let that baka Naruto lead you astray." Tsunade said once she was sure they were alone.

"Hai, Tsunade-sama." She nodded, a small brush crossing her cheeks.

The Hokage sighed and placed her hand on her forehead. "I'm never going to get you to be less formal with me, am I?"

"I'm sorry…"

"Don't worry about it. Just know that if you need anything, you know where my office is. If your clan's giving you a hard time, you can always come to me." She winked at the girl, "unless, of course you would like to fling yourself into Naruto's open arms."

No matter how hard she tried, Hinata's face became as red as a tomato. Her fingers found themselves poking each other back and forth as she fought to abate her blush. Tsunade enjoyed teasing her every once in a while.

"Stop by my office anytime." She ruffled the girl's hair a bit. "I could always use an extra hand to help me with my paperwork."

Hinata smiled an appreciative smile at her, said her goodbye, and then left to join Neji, Hanabi, and her father.

She didn't know that Neji could fuss over someone so much! So this is how Lee-kun felt when Neji was asked to help him while he was injured, Hinata thought. But she felt happy. He cared and that was all that mattered.

They were an odd bunch, walking down the busy streets of Konoha towards the Hyuuga manner, as Hanabi 'swarmed' around them, Neji continually catching Hinata every time she tripped or mis-stepped, and Hiashi trying to look as dignified as possible. Many of the villagers, if not all of the villagers had heard of the attack and about Hinata's eyesight. When they saw her on the street, they would talk to her and her family, some offering her congratulation-on-getting-your-eyesight-back gifts.

If felt odd to Hinata, but at the same time, she enjoyed it all the same.

Once she got home, she rushed up to her room, leaving her family behind. Upon entering the room, she went straight for her closet, rummaging through there. She pulled out a mahogany case with flowers and a sun carved into the lid.

_Bingo!_

This special box was once her mother's before she passed. She had always believed in the power and meaning of incense. It was one of those things that Hyuugas were not allowed to believe in, but she was not a Hyuuga by birth, so she had ignored that rule. Hinata's mother had taught her the different meanings of different scents that the incense gave off when she was younger. And this box was the only thing Hinata had to remember her mother by.

Carefully, the shy Hyuuga heiress removed the lid of said box. She found what she was looking for. From the box of many different incense sticks, she pulled out one.

Sandalwood: for saying goodbye and moving on.

She found a holder and placed the stick in it. She lit the incense, inhaling a large amount of it, cleansing herself of the past and stepping forward into her new future.

The scent filled the room, covering her clothes, and her being. This was goodbye. To who she once was. To the way things used to be. She could no longer be the shy, quiet girl that allowed herself to be trampled upon. Not now when she had her family and Naruto-kun by her side.

Don't get me wrong. She was still shy and a bit too quiet, but no one was able to walk all over her anymore. She wouldn't let them this time.

She placed the incense on her windowsill after she opened it. Her white eyes watched the trails of smoke float away into the sky and she watched the frivolous fears she once had float away with it. Instead of being who people expected her to be, she would now be who she was. Instead of just being a Hyuuga, she would be Hinata.

She would no longer rely on what people told her they saw; she would see things with her own eyes.

That said and done, the young Hyuuga heiress set out of her house… no… her home to go meet one orange clad, foxy shinobi for some ramen that he promised her.

* * *

The end… Sorta P Hee hee There will be an epilogue. 

I made Lee afraid of hospitals… Poor baby. I don't know why… I just felt that Lee and Hinata would make a connection… like he would be a good friend with her as well. I don't know… I had been planning on having Hanabi speak to her before her operation, but then I saw an AMV with poor, crying bandaged Lee in it… so then Lee became a big part of this chapter. After all, it does make sense that he would… he's been through this before. Ah, how much he has grown on me. And Naruto! "The water was like "gah"!" XD I love Naruto to pieces.

Eek! I'm so sorry everyone… But I guess you guys are used to this by now… And expected this from me by now… T-T I'm so sorry. For some reason whenever I got inspired to write, things happened and prevented me from doing so… This summer… Hell, this year has not been the best one for me. School problems, among other things… If you want the full rant, it will be in my next chapter of "You Don't Know My Name" (which should be coming out before September 7).

Reviewers… You guys know I love you, right. Hearing your great words and criticisms really brings tears to my eyes. It makes me very happy. Right now, you guys make my day a little brighter. I'm so sorry to have mistreated you by delaying this chapter for so long, but I made it longer than the other ones… so I hope it compensates some.

Dragon Man 180 (Just being around Naruto helps her improve her opinion of herself…), nonengel, Place-your-name-here, warprince2000, hyuga-san, Sakura2387 (Oo Are you Wufei in disguise?), FireDragonBL, lunarangel, KyLewin ( :glomp: You're always a big help to me! Have a cookie.), chibified kitsunes (I'm writing to date just for you… as a really late b-day present, kay:glomp: ), Chibi Tetra, noname (Winning isn't everything, ne? but thanks… Besides… I'll win for sure next time!), Jays Arravan, ZAFT-X20A Strike Freedom (Yay for all three times in a row!), funkmasterjo, sunny smiles, and Ibozun… thank you all so much for reviewing. And for those that have stuck with me through it all, I am really grateful.

minimerc


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and/or its characters… so there

It's been a while since I promised this little epilogue thingie so here's a recap:

Recap: Hinata became blind trying to save her daddy's life. She spent a while in the hospital. Naruto came to visit her lots. He promised they'd go get some ramen when she got out. Meanwhile, the Hyuuga clan tried to get Hinata un-heired cause they thought she couldn't be healed. Her dad wasn't standing for that. Hinata does Nice Guy pose. Hinata's eyes heal. Her family comes to pick her up. She promises herself to change just a little bit more. Now she's going to meet Naruto for that ramen he promised her.

Self Righteous Sacrifice: Epilogue

She was the first one to arrive at the ramen stand. She guessed he was still on his training mission with his cell, but that was okay.

Once he got back, he'd be all hers.

Or at least that's what she hoped for. If he brought Sakura or Sasuke or Kakashi or anyone else with him, she would be upset, but she would deal with it. After all, they weren't girlfriend and boyfriend…_yet,_ she added silently.

Yes, our dear Hinata has not given up on the foxy shinobi.

Hinata was no stranger to ramen. After finding out it was Naruto's favorite food, she became a ramen connoisseur of sorts. She went from ramen bar to ramen bar, trying to get a taste for it.

She heard about the taste of ramen from many a person and how 'low class' it was. People, apparently, looked down on ramen eaters… She didn't get it. Although it isn't too good to eat too much of, it is pretty tasty. Apparently all of those people that look down on it have never actually had any.

"Miss, are you ready to order?" the old man that ran the Ichiraku ramen bar.

She smiled a small, shy smile at him, "I-I'm waiting for someone, sir."

"Oh." He grinned down fondly at the girl. He had seen her here before, but she was much more nervous. She kept playing with her fingers and looking over her shoulder. Once she heard Naruto approach, she would spring up and rush off in a hurry, leaving her half eaten ramen and money to pay for it behind. "That someone wouldn't be our best customer, Naruto, would it?"

He saw the girl blush crimson and grinned more.

"Well feel free to start on your ramen before he gets here. Once he's here, he may eat your ramen along with his."

She shook her head slightly. "I'll wait for Naruto-kun to come..."

The ramen man nodded his head in acknowledgement of her statement. He looked out of the slits between the banner, "But it looks like you won't have to wait long… Cause here he comes at full speed."

Sure enough, the Hyuuga Heiress saw a blue and orange blur rushing towards them. He skidded to a stop right in front of the bar's curtain. He lifted it up and walked inside.

He caught sight of Hinata and plopped down next to her with a cute pout on his face.

"What's wrong, Naruto-kun?"

"I wanted to get here before… damn Kakashi-sensei and his stupid punishments."

She giggled a little. Naruto could be such a little kid, no matter what age he was. "Then maybe you shouldn't have gotten into trouble." She offered softly.

Naruto looked at her, appalled. "You're taking his side too, Hinata!" He scrunched his eyes closed, crossed his arms, and spun around so his back was facing her.

At first she was shocked at the abruptness of his change in attitude. Now she felt miserable. She didn't mean to make Naruto mad at her. It was just a little joke… she didn't mean anything by it.

Her face burned with shame as she stared down at the ground. Slowly, she began to sink into her baggy coat, trying to get away. She knew she couldn't leave… she had been waiting for this for weeks now… but still-

"But I guess you're right…" She heard him say as he turned back towards her. He raised an eyebrow with a confused expression. "What's wrong?"

"Ah…. nothing Naruto-kun." She smiled a shaky smile at him. She didn't know if she could take his constant change in personality just yet.

The ramen man cleared his throat. "Are you two ready to order?"

"Alright! I'll have miso soup ramen today to start off with then…" Naruto began to ramble off all of the different kinds of ramen he wanted from negi to beef to pork.

Hinata's eyes widen slightly.

She didn't know anyone could eat that much… especially with ramen. It wasn't good to each too much ramen. It possesses a lot of carbohydrates, but low food energy. She was so wrapped in wonder she almost didn't hear Naruto ask her what she wanted.

"Umm… I think I'll have the pork ramen with red bean paste, please?" She asked, bowing her head towards the old man.

"Coming right up!" he told them as he headed to his cooking space. The girl that was also working there came over to them and placed water in front of both of them. She smiled at them and then left to attend to other customers.

They were left alone…. With nothing to talk about. So Naruto took it upon himself to get the ball rolling.

"You can see now, right?" she looked at him, a little confused, but nodded. He smiled his foxy grin at her. "That's great! Congratulations!"

"Thank you Naruto-kun…." She trailed off, silently adding a '_for everything._' They fell into a silence again.

Sure, after hanging around Hinata in the hospital for about a month, he should be used to this. She almost always trailed off, awkwardly ending the conversation. But he still wasn't.

He tried again.

"So when do you get back on active duty?"

"Hoka… Tsunade-sama said that I might be able to rejoin my team in two weeks or so. She said that she would determine when I am better."

"Yeah. Tsunade-baachan knows her stuff. You know, she saved my life, right?"

This caught Hinata by surprise. "Really, Naruto-kun?"

He turned on his stool so he could fully face the white-eyed girl. "You mean I didn't tell you?" He could have sworn he told everyone that would listen about his great battle and almost death when trying to bring Tsunade back to Konoha with Ero Sennin.

Hinata shook her head. Hinata was well aware of everything Naruto had ever said to her, so she knew this was something he hadn't shared with her before.

"Well you know that Ero Sennin and I were sent to bring her back to Konoha. It was a really cool and dangerous battle…" And he went on from there.

Hinata was so enthralled by his story (really by him talking to her) that she didn't notice the ramen placed down in front of her. Apparently Naruto hadn't either as he explained in great detail his battle with Kabuto and how he was protecting Tsunade.

"Kabuto-san works for Orochimaru? And you fought him!?" She could hardly believe what she was hearing. Naruto-kun was greater than she could have ever imagined.

"Yeah. I was surprised too, at first. But that guy was a bastard and got what he had coming." Naruto declared, pumping his fist into the air. "However… while I hit him with the Rasengan, he got me too. He used some medical jutsu to mess with body and shut down my body's ability to heal…" _So that part was kinda true, _Naruto thought.

Hinata noticed he paused and frowned a bit. He wasn't telling her the whole truth, she knew, but she wouldn't force him to. He would tell her when he would tell her.

"So the rest of it, Ero Sennin told me. Tsunade-baachan saved my life and gave me this." He pulled out a necklace from under his jacket, "It was Shodaime's and worth a lot. Obaachan said it was worth about three mountains."

"She gave it to you?"

"Well, I won our bet." The astounded look on her face told him she didn't know what he was talking about. "I didn't tell you about that either!? Well Hinata, it looks like we have a lot of catching up to do. But first….ramen!"

With that, our foxy protagonist gave a hearty "Itadakimasu!" and dug into the first bowl of noodles in front of him. Hinata, sensing that it was safer not to talk to Naruto while he ate his food, turn to face her own bowl.

"Itadakimasu…" she said as she broke her chopsticks and slurped down some noodles.

For about a half an hour, the sound of slurping noodles filled the air as the two ate. Hinata, who had finished her bowl a while ago, slyly watched Naruto finish his meal out of the corner of her eye.

It was so much different being able to see him eat rather than just hear him. Whenever he visited her, he would bring food for both of them. After discovering that Hinata couldn't eat ramen without his help, he stopped bringing it for her, and instead brought onigiri. He would just place one in her hand and she would be able to 'handle' it from there. She heard constant slurping of noodles coming from the boy next to her, but she never knew how much food he was eating. Now she knew and it made her giggle.

So what they said about Naruto's big appetites was true.

The foxy shinobi looked over at her with a confused look on his face. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing, Naruto-kun… nothing at all." She told him. He shrugged his shoulders and went back to finishing off his ramen. Soon the slurping came to an end as Naruto gulped down the last bit of broth within his last bowl. He placed it down on the counter and gave a content sign.

"Ah… that was good," he said loudly, grinning from ear to ear. The old man walked back over towards the two of them.

"So I see you two are finished. Well, here's your bill. Have a nice night." The ramen shop owner said as he placed a slip of paper in front of the two.

Hinata reached for her wallet, but Naruto stopped her. "It's my treat, remember."

"Demo, Naruto-kun I can pay for…" she ended up trailing off as Naruto paid the bill right before her eyes.

"It's done now, so don't worry about it." The foxy shinobi told her as they walked down the path to Hinata's house.

"Besides, what kind of date would it be if I let you pay?"

"Da-date?!?"

"Ah… well yeah but I didn't tell you that when I asked you out, did I… crap… well I'd understand if you don't want to call it that." he rambled on scratching his marked cheek nervously and avoiding her eyes. "Sorry I just said that out of no-"

Hinata placed her shaking hand on his shoulder, "I… I don't mind, Na-Naruto-kun…" she managed to get out as she removed her hand from his shoulder, her face very, very red now.

Naruto found himself blushing a little as well. He wanted to jump for joy because it wasn't everyday that the girl you like agrees that you are on a date together… but that would seem a little odd to do that right now… Besides, she might just be saying that so that he doesn't feel so awkward.

They fell into a comfortable silence as their sandals made little noise down the dirt path. Naruto began to see the gates of the Hyuuga compound… so it was now or never…

"Hinata…"

"Hai, Naruto-kun?"

He stayed quiet for a little while. He was having a hard time finding the right words to say, which was a shocker since he normally just said the first thing that came to his mind. However, this wasn't one of those times. Damnit!

Naruto finally gathered his courage and spoke, taking a page out of Hinata's book and looked everywhere but at her. "Umm… It was really….nice going out with you today…. And I was… wonderingifwecoulddoitagainsometime…"

The white-eyed girl stopped for a minute tried to process what Naruto had just said. But seeing as she was the master of messing words together, she got it relatively quickly and blushed. "I…" she took a deep breath and looked Naruto in the eye with a smile, fidgeting all the while, "I would like that a lot."

He looked up at her slowly, a grin spreading across his tan face, "Really?"

She nodded.

"Yes!" as he pumped his fist into the air. Hinata found herself being embraced Naruto like she had been years before when she had helped him find the bug that was supposed to find Sasuke. "Hinata, you're the best!"

Before she could give him a sputtered response, he pecked her on the cheek.

That just killed whatever momentum Hinata was hoping to use to help her continue speaking to Naruto that night.

Naruto realized what he has just did himself and had the decency to blush. "So…uh… Night." And off he ran, leaving poor Hinata bewildered.

After gathering her wits, Hinata found her hand reaching up to her cheek and her lips breaking into a satisfied grin of her own as she watched the blonde ninja disappear from her sight.

"Goodnight, Naruto-kun"

* * *

And it's done! Thank you ladies and gentlemen for all of your support! It meant a lot to me. Sorry… this is so late… but I've been kinda busy with life and stuff… I finally got a boyfriend… and been together for a year!!! So it's possible for anyone to! Then there's that going to college thing… so it's possible for everyone to get into college too! 

::stretches some:: I guess this means I should finish up YDKMN and write a few more drabbles for NaruHina… along with some Bleach ones...

Reviewers: Love you all. Thanks so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed and aren't too angry with me for my lack of consistent updating. So this is the end. I'll see the rest of ya when I see ya. Bai bai!


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